First Time Brewing, Tip/Advice Welcome

[Neathawk49]

Hello there fellow brewers,

I was given quite a large amount of brewing equipment and will be brewing my first batch this Saturday and would like some advice. I will list my equipment and kit below.

First off, the kit given to me hasn't been used for roughly 2 years and has been sitting in a garage (uncovered) and has accumulated a fair amount of dust and dirt. What would be the best way to completely rid the equipment if any possible contaminants (soaking in come sort of soap, power washing, etc)?

The following is not a complete list, but the bulk if what I was given. I am not sure which to use in what sequence:

-3 six gallon glass carboys
-2 plastic fermentation buckets
-1 plastic bottling bucket
-36 quart brew pot
-wort chiller
-hydrometer
-various tube, seals, pumps and plugs

The first kit I plan on brewing (even though it's a bit late for it) is the Holiday Ale extract kit from Midwest. I would really like to stray a bit and add my own touch to this kit. My wife and I really enjoy Whole Hogs Pumpkin Ale and would like to sort of emulate that. What would you guys recommend adding (and how much) to this to make it taste like "the holidays", without making it overwhelming with flavors. I have the following readily available:

-canned pumpkin
-cinnamon sticks
-vanilla beans
-maple syrup
-cloves
-all spice
-French toasted oak chips
-paradise seeds
-pumpkin pie flavored vodka
-spare packet of munton and fison yeast

Thank you guys for any recommendations on how to make this first batch a perfect batch!!

 

[Wolfbrau]

Don't stress too much and enjoy yourself. A little PBW or Oxiclean Free, elbow grease and a good rinse will clean most reasonably serviceable items.

I prefer my Christmas beers with 1.5 ounces of fresh orange zest, dried cinnamon powder and allspice. If you're wanting to use an unspiced base beer and add your own spice mix, I suggest the Honey Amber Ale kit.

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcome.
One thing I would add is check the fermenter bucket for scratches. If it's scratched, I wouldn't use it.

 

[jro238]

Yep. Oxy clean free or pbw and a soft cloth works wonders. I emphasize soft cloth here. You don't want to scratch any stainless you might be using (because it's ugly) and you definitely don't want to scratch your plastic because it will harbor nasties. Other than this, remember to be thorough with sanitation after the boil and don't worry too much. We all screwed something up on our first brew and as long as you pay attention to sanitation you will still have some nice, drinkable beer at the end

Welcome to the obsession...

 

[jro238]

Forgot the second part of your question. Normally I would advise against a beans new brewer messing around too much with spices because it is easy to overdo. If you want to though:

Pumpkin and maple syrup won't add much flavor, I would go with holiday spices. For your own sake though, add like 1/4 of what you think you need (or better yet find a good recipe for a holiday spiced beer). You can always add more spices at bottling if you need to but you can't take it out.